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Perspectives of jesus
Perspectives of jesus
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The book, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright is a conversation of sorts between, “The Leading Liberal and Conservative Jesus Scholars” as they “Present the Heart of the Historical Jesus Debate.” In the introduction, the scholars note that the inspiration and writing of the book grew out of friendship. The book is evidence of the public and private conversations between these scholars and friends, sharing in Christian faith and practice as they work through these complex issues in hopes of understanding each other better. Both, “…acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as Lord, and [we] regard the no-holds-barred study of his actual history as a vital part of what we mean by that” (viii). Under those circumstances, identified in the book are a few purposes of the writing: the desire to shift log-jammed debates into more fruitful possibilities by suggesting other ways issues might be lined up, as well as opening up a crucial question, how do different visions of Jesus relate to different visions of the Christian life? Agreeing that discussions and conversations about Jesus should be open and in the public sphere, Borg and Wright act on this shared aspiration, and reveal a conversation that is both interesting and refreshing, for the underlying purpose of igniting dialogue between others, Christian and non-Christian alike (ix-x). In this situation, the content of the writing is broken down into eight parts with each scholar authoring one short chapter on each of the topics, alternating the position of the chapters in a point-counterpoint manner. Rarely stating an explicit disagreement with the other, the intimate manner of presentation does an excellent job in exposing the inherent tensions between the two... ... middle of paper ... ... of the Christian faith front and center by uniting two camps of believers in one reading; a starting point. As illustrated by the authors, “Though we have not, of course, reached agreement, we are satisfied that we have eliminated misunderstandings, that is, that neither of us has misrepresented the other. We offer the result to the reader as a celebration of shared friendship, faith, and scholarship” (xi). In conclusion, I found the book incredibly thought-provoking and worthwhile for this course. Its strength came from the open and honest but respectful nature of the dialogue between these scholars. Each chapter offered by Borg and Wright seemed more like teasers for reading their other publications which was unsatisfying in a way but very enticing for those interested readers of the book to continue their own quests for understanding the historical Jesus.
His discussion on the Trinity (the Tri-unity) was excellent. He demonstrated that the Hebrew word for one, ‘echad, does not necessarily refer to absolute unity and, in fact, could very well refer to compound unity (Page 4). He provides examples from the Hebrew Bible where ‘echad is used of a compound or complex unity as per the oneness of Adam and Eve, the many components of the tabernacle being one “unified” tabernacle, and the one nation of Israel which is made up of hundreds of thousands of people (5). I loved the way he backed up his discussion of the Shema as referring the concept of uniqueness (Deut. 6:4) by citing the New Jewish Publication Society Version: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone” (page 6)
The next section of the book examines Easter and Jesus. Borg writes that he agrees with Wright about Easter being central to Christianity, however, he disagrees with Wright concerning the importance of Jesus’ body and the tomb. Borg argues that the tomb and Jesus’ corpse are irrelevant to
The direction now of my research is to begin investigating the context of the debate. To achieve this aim I will need to be consulting books of both secular and church history for the time of Jesus and the Council.
The Bible versus other earliest books is the main problem which is faced by many considerate authors and so is also faced by Borg and Wright. It is generally observed that most of the biblical stories are believed as right but in actual they are unsuspecting. If we discuss Borg’s point of view he has accepted a lot of disapproval in Bible. For the original Testament the Borg execute serious investigation on the past book in order to apply on the original Testament. In a book Borg wrote a whole chapter on the virgin Birth in order to give an example on the critical analysis and the facts show that he does not thinks that gospel accounts are traditionally
Jesus is a person who I’m able to talk whenever I need someone to listen to me. He’s someone who is always listening whether you have something excellent or awful to say. After I have a rough day or get into an argument with someone, I take a moment and talk to Jesus. I feel like this is a great way to release my stress or angry and feel better afterwards because I know someone was listening. Lately I have struggled to attend church, however, I know that Jesus is still with me. Jesus will always be with me no matter the circumstances.
In today's world, it is very easy to allow our perception of Jesus to be skewed by our ideology, attempting to define Him in light of our preconceived views. As a Christian whose political views generally lean to the conservative side, I still must recognize that both conservativism and liberalism are man-made philosophies, both having their respective limitations in regards to biblical truth. As Christian sociologist Tony Campolo astutely points out:
This paper is written to discuss the many different ideas that have been discussed over the first half of Theology 104. This class went over many topics which gave me a much better understanding of Christianity, Jesus, and the Bible. I will be addressing two topics of which I feel are very important to Christianity. First, I will be focusing on the question did Jesus claim to be God? This is one of the biggest challenges of the Bibles that come up quite often. Secondly, I will focus on character development.
In Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcy's essay, "Worldviews in Conflict," the authors evaluate the shifting culture context of today's society and how Christianity fits into this situation. The essay compares the differing views between Christianity and today's worldview, and informs the reader on how to engage today's culture. "Worldviews in Conflict" is a reliable source because its authors, audience, publication, and purpose make it
The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1
One idea that was extremely helpful to me was his use of metaphors to clarify the relationship between Christians and the Bible. The purpose of reading the Bible, according to Borg, should be to listen to the spirit of the God speaking through the biblical texts and not read the Bible as a mere ‘Word of God.’ For a beginner in Christian studies, like me, this statement has a very large scope that is beyond my understanding right now. Borg, however, makes it easier to absorb this statement with his three metaphors describing the Bible as a finger pointing the moon, as a lens, and as a sacrament. In the first two metaphors, by calling the Bible a finger pointing the moon and a lens, he implies that one must not believe in the finger, but believe in that to which the finger points. This clearly supports his postcritical naivete approach because he is asking people to believe the truth at which the finger is pointing and ignore the way (here referring to the finger) or path. These metaphors are highly enriching as they support Borg’s claim about the Bible being a human product. They signify to me that there are no speeches by God himself in the Bible, but there are people who have experienced God and what they believe God would have said or done in a particular
The book consists of three parts. The first part has five chapters of which focuses on explaining what the key questions are and why we find them difficult to answer. The second part has nine chapters explaining in detail what N.T. Wright considers Jesus’ public career and the approach he had in first century Palestine. The third part of the book, the last chapter, challenges readers to wrestle with the questions of Jesus’ life and ministry.
The presentation of Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’ The Passion of the Christ, while certainly dramatized, largely stays faithful to the presentation of Jesus in the canonical Gospels. The majority of the differences between this film and the Gospels can be considered creative choices that do not substantially change the narrative, making this film by and large an accurate representation of the scenes in the Bible. However, its near-exclusive focus on Jesus’ trial and death omits much of the context and significance of this event in the life and teachings of Jesus and his greater mission of the salvation of humanity.
...s distributed in Theology 101 at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle on 22 April 2008.
Jesus was raised in Nazareth in the home of Joseph, a carpenter, and his wife Mary. Jesus most likely went to school in a room attached to the synagogue. He
Lutzer, Erwin. The Doctrines That Divide: a Fresh Look at the Historic Doctrines That Separate Christians. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998.